Good stories teach good behavior. Bad stories teach bad behavior.

Another way in which times have changed is that our children are exposed to stories everywhere. TV is one story after
another. Movies are long stories. Even video games tell stories...often disturbing ones.

Action. Sex. Violence.

Today, too often, all we ask of stories is that they entertain. We've
lost the magic of a parent telling a well-chosen story for the purpose
of teaching a moral lesson.

Our children are suffering for it. Their behavior is suffering for it.

It's time to put storytelling back in your parental toolbox!

Storytelling is everywhere you look

Our great religious books are filled with it. In our churches, temples
and mosques, our religious leaders ask us to learn from these stories.

Our political leaders tell stories about people who their policies have helped...or who their opponent's policies have hurt.

Storytelling is built into the human psyche: we're meant to learn from
these fictional tales. We're meant to identify with the characters in them.

A well told story can be the best, most positive way to
teach your child an important lesson or address a problem behavior. It
can be infinitely more effective than telling your child,

"Stop doing that!"

What's wrong with "Stop doing that"?

Telling your child what to do activates your child's willfulness. Your child's reaction: I don't want to do
what I'm TOLD to do.

Telling your child what to do doesn't explain and illustrate what the benefits of good behavior are.

What's right about storytelling?

A well-chosen story makes the issue about some
other child. That enables your child to listen and identify with the child in the story!

The right story not only illustrates the benefits of good behavior, it shows the sad downside to bad behavior!

The difference between DEMANDING good behavior and
ENCOURAGING IT...

...is
the
difference
between this:

and this:

Nothing wrong with The Ten Commandments! But...

They're rules. Rules are important, but children also need reasons...

Reasons to follow the rules.

Children are much more likely to behave if they know why they're doing it and believe they'll benefit!

Are you starting to understand why stories work?

Stories explain.

Stories allow children to identify with the main character.

Stories illustrate the consequences of bad behavior and the benefits of good behavior.

Stories remove your child's ego and willfulness from the equation by making the focus some other child's problems.

Stories allow your child to conclude:

I don't want that to happen to ME!

Picking the right story

If you want to find a story to help your child, here's what to look for:

A story with a main character your child can identify with

A story that's relevant to your child's problem behavior

A story without consequences that are too harsh. (Old fairy tales
often ended with dead children! That's not how we teach lessons today.)

A story without consequences that are too mild. (The "price" of
the consequences has to exceed the "benefit" of the bad behavior!)

Remember also that stories are lessons, and lessons have to be learned and re-learned. Ask yourself: How will I repeat the story's message without it being obvious to my child what I'm doing?

Here's a way...

Put the story in written form, either with lots of blank space on each page or with coloring book drawings. Why?

So that your child can illustrate it. Every time your child interacts with the story, the moral is hammered home once more!

Make sense?

Now, you can go looking for such stories. Or, if you're a creative
type, you can write such a story. Or, if one of the common behavior
problems we've mentioned is one your child is struggling with...

You can use one of my stories!

The Child Behavior Books

I've written some special stories for parents who want to harness the power of storytelling to help
improve their children's behavior.

These are Ebooks you can download easily and put to immediate use. If
your child enjoys drawing, then your child is the right age for my
Child Behavior Books.

My name is Steve Barancik and I've spent almost my entire adult life
writing and telling stories for a living. I've published stories in
magazines, I've written movies, and I perform stories taken from my life
for paying audiences. (Google me!)

I've used those storytelling skills in creating the Child Behavior Books. And here's a story that isn't fiction:

I'll sell these books to you for much less than the cost of a standard children's picture book.

Why? Because I can.

How? Because you do the printing.

Here's the deal:

Choose the book that speaks to your child's problem behavior.

Decide whether an illustrated version or a text-only version is the right one for your child.